Was Denied Permission To Take Jayalalithaa Abroad For Care: Panneerselvam

O Panneerselvam had alleged that he had not seen Ms Jayalalithaa even once in Chennai's Apollo hospital

New Delhi: J Jayalalithaa's death in December after nearly three months in hospital was followed by conspiracy theories that were spurred on by the power tussle within Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK.

Former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who tried and failed to take control of the party, added to his list of allegations targeted at jailed chief VK Sasikala. "We were denied permission to try and take Amma abroad for treatment," he tweeted.

Mr Panneerselvam, one of Ms Jayalalithaa's most trusted aides, revolted days after her longtime friend Ms Sasikala took over as party chief and was chosen to replace him as Chief Minister.

In dramatic developments last month after Mr Panneerselvam's revolt, over 100 lawmakers were sequestered at a resort near Chennai until a trust vote was won by Ms Sasikala's candidate E Palanisamy amid chaos and violence in the assembly.

In the middle of his battle with Ms Sasikala, Panneerselvam alleged that he had not seen Ms Jayalalithaa even once in Chennai's Apollo hospital, where she died on December 5.

"Had visited the hospital daily to enquire about Jayalalithaa's health condition, but couldn't meet her even once," Mr Panneerselvam tweeted.

He also told reporters that he would tell his family each day that he couldn't see Ms Jayalalithaa because of fear of infection. "Every day my family would ask, did you see Amma at Apollo. I even considered saying yes, but I couldn't lie," he said.

Ms Jayalalithaa was admitted to hospital for breathlessness in September and was since seen by a very select group of people that included Ms Sasikala.

Mr Panneerselvam said he had "doubts" about Ms Jayalalithaa's treatment which needed to be answered. PH Pandian, another AIADMK veteran, had also suggested that the former Chief Minister's death was "not from natural causes".